


Cut Strings

by Cranksta



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Character Death, Comfort/Angst, Heavy Angst, I Fix It I Swear, I Saw Art And It Made Me Feel Things, M/M, Mortality, philosophical musings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-06 02:40:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17931284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cranksta/pseuds/Cranksta
Summary: Humans are fragile creatures.They should have had more time.





	Cut Strings

**Author's Note:**

  * For [@Olivia313_ on Twitter](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=%40Olivia313_+on+Twitter).



All it takes is one moment.

 

One moment and no matter how much either of them have experience or prepare for it- everything crumbles.

 

A routine investigation. A routine bust. A routine chase. It’s nothing they haven’t done before and it’s something they’ll do again. They work well together- always have. There have been ups and down to their partnership, but Nines wouldn’t have traded it for anything.

 

They should’ve been able to continue for years. Continue to fulfill their purposes and make the world a better place in their own small ways. Perhaps it was egotistical to think they made a difference in any meaningful way, but Gavin’s peace after a closed case and some measure of resolution for a victim was undeniable. Nines was merely along for the ride and happy to put his skills to use. Maybe he found a peace of his own out of it.

 

He definitely found comfort in his partner’s presence, much like Connor had. It was a rough start, but had grown into a remarkable friendship. Had grown even beyond that. Having Gavin with him was the single most fulfilling thing about his life.

 

Humans are interesting creatures. They grow and change in ways that androids cannot. In ways that Nines himself cannot. He likes to think Gavin helped shape him into something different than what he used to be and he wouldn’t be wrong, but he would never be capable of the chaotic growth that a human is.

 

He loved Gavin. Had spent three years of his life devoted in every way allowed to him knowing that their time was finite and precious. Treasuring every moment of it and carving it to memory.

 

And all it takes is one moment to destroy it all.

 

He’s chasing a suspect- Gavin and him having split for separate targets as they have dozens of times before. There’s nothing different about this chase. Another routine that will end in a long night at the precinct and -if they’re lucky- a confession.

 

A series of shots ring through the air and Nines freezes in place, no longer caring for the man he’s chasing.

 

He knows the sound of Gavin’s service weapon and less than half of the shots heard were from it.

 

He’s bolting back to Gavin’s last location, LED spinning red in the eerie silence amidst deafening rain.

 

Ever cold, he knew that he’d have to get Gavin his spare set of clothes when they got back to the DPD. That the human would be shivering in soaked denim and cotton and good at ignoring it, but freezing all the same.

 

Such fragile creatures.

 

Laying in a puddle on the ground was a sure way for Gavin to be even colder.

 

Nines pushes the unhelpful information out of his HUD before bolting up to the Detective and kneeling next to him.

 

Scans give him everything he needs to know.

 

Three shots to the chest, one to the abdomen. Left lung collapsed, shrapnel inside critical organs and a sizable hole in his stomach. Heart beating at an accelerated rate, ragged gasps coming from Gavin’s throat. Gavin has already lost a lot of blood and this- this isn’t something he can stem. Gavin is bleeding into his own chest and onto the pavement.

 

It will be four minutes for the ambulance to get here. Eight minutes to the hospital.

 

At which, Gavin will begin have already begun braindeath from lack of oxygen to his critical organs. At least four of which are more or less just shredded flesh in Gavin’s chest.

 

There is no fixing this. No stopping this. The damage is catastrophic and there’s nothing Nines can do to preserve his human’s life.

 

Gavin’s watery green eyes are on his and Nines can see the fear and pain. He’s reminded of the time Gavin risked his wellbeing to get to a stray dog in the middle of the highway. Nines had followed and remembers the gaze of a creature that didn’t know what hit it, only knows pain.

 

Only, Gavin knows what happened.

 

But that animal fear is there. Gavin is reaching for him with a sluggish, shaky hand and Nines reaches for it in return. Glances around, finding a small bench under a tree not far from them.

 

Moving Gavin is unpleasant, a gurgling cry escaping the human’s throat as Nines shifts him, but Nines does his best to make it quick. He just wants Gavin out of the rain and cold. He can’t fix this, but he can try to ease some of Gavin’s discomfort.

 

Sitting on the bench and propping Gavin’s head against his stomach, cradling his shoulders between his legs is easy. Gavin’s head falls back onto him and Nines carefully cradles his throat to encourage as much airflow as possible. It eases some of the gurgling in Gavin’s chest. He carefully strips his jacket from his shoulders, draping it over the bloody mess of Gavin’s chest and shielding him from the rain. There’s red on his hands, red leaking out of Gavin’s lips and soaking through his jacket.

 

Nines doesn’t know what to say. If there is anything to say. If Gavin can even understand him at this point. He’s panting, a biological reaction to lack of oxygen to his brain. Gavin’s life is already slipping away and he can’t think of anything to say. Can only carefully card his free hand through Gavin’s hair and hope that being there is some kind of comfort.

 

Three years. They’ve had less time together than most, but Nines doesn’t regret any of it. They should have had more. Nines is reminded of all the plans they had been building since the beginning of the year. It’s terribly unfair. Nines is one of the most logical creatures on this planet, but that’s all he can think about.

 

That this is unfair.

 

Gavin deserved to pass warm and loved in old age after living a life that he was proud of.

 

Not… This. Not when Gavin was only beginning to create a better life for himself and enjoy it.

 

He has a ring at home. Stashed in a shelf that Gavin never reaches for. Waiting for the right time and right place. He waited too long.

 

Gavin is gasping now, tremors taking hold and causing more pain than he can aleve. Gavin reaches for him suddenly, clawing at his knee and gripping weakly.

 

“Shhh, it’s okay. It’s alright, Gavin. Just relax, love. I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

 

It’s an adrenaline spike. The last effort his body is willing to make to preserve itself. The ambulance is still too far out. Any last hope Nines held for this to end differently is destroyed as Gavin finally stops moving.

 

It’s more peaceful than he anticipated, Gavin relaxing into his hold and letting out a long sigh.

 

Nines is sure time stops in that moment.

 

What’s left for him now? He could continue, of course. There will be another for him to be partnered with. He could continue his purpose with someone else.

 

But his purpose never was to be an investigative unit for the police force.

 

His purpose was with Gavin.

 

And Gavin has gone somewhere he can’t follow.

 

He’s carefully unbuttoning the center of his shirt before realizing it, approving the planned course of action before it’s even made.

 

Pulling his thirium regulator is simple, a small twist and jerk. It’s easy to fling it across the pavement and watch it crack on the cold concrete of Detroit.

 

The countdown starts, warnings in his head that are blaring yet easy to ignore.

 

Do androids have souls? Does he dare compare himself to natural living beings? He has to. It’s all he has left. A small hope that he might see Gavin on the other side. That they might meet again.

 

More than anything, he doesn’t want to be  _ here _ . Not without Gavin.

 

He could be rebooted, sure. But he has already ensured that Connor won’t let it happen. Connor knows- understands without more than a few words and images.

 

He has 45 seconds. He can hear the sirens of the too-late ambulance in the distance. Time returns slowly, and all he can do is carve Gavin’s image into his memory and hope it stays there.

 

Connor will find who did this. There is no reason for him to leave this spot. This place in time where he can still hold Gavin close and remember the better times.

 

He has 30 seconds.

 

He wipes at the blood on Gavin’s cheek and thinks about that morning. Gavin sleeping deeply next to him and drooling comically into the pillow. Waking with a start when Nines swiped at it with his fingers to clean it away- and batting at his hand insisting he didn’t drool and pulling a laugh from Nines.

 

Only this time, Gavin doesn’t wake when Nines touches him. It’s still easier to get lost in the memory than the reality.

 

He has 15 seconds.

 

The world is quiet again. It’s just him and his human. He can’t hear the rain or the sirens or the shouting around him. He only sees Gavin. Stares into watery green eyes that are  _ alive _ in his mind and slowly closing his own.

 

His purpose is with Gavin, and he will do his best to follow.

 

===

 

Detroit is not a quiet city. It is not peaceful or calm or any measure of serene.

 

But this place is.

 

Nines observes the buildings around him in the cloudy afternoon weather. Shining under diffused light and reflecting everything around them.

 

He’s downtown. He knows he is. But downtown shouldn’t be still. There should be cars in the street and people hurrying from place to place. Noise and movement and chaos. But there are none of those things. This city is completely empty.

 

He’s standing at the edge of a park, he realizes. Sees the grass under his feet and takes in the warmth around him. It rained recently, he can see the puddles in the street and the shine of water clinging to the windows.

 

It’s… beautiful in it’s own way. This place is empty, yet alive.

 

He doesn’t know what he’s doing here- the last thing he remembers is-

 

He pats at his chest, feeling for the hole under his shirt and finding none. Finding only smooth skin and soft fabric. There is no blood staining his hands or his jacket. No evidence that what happened was more than a dream.

 

But he knows it to be real- that this place is the dream.

 

There’s a flutter of wings overhead, startling him as a flock of birds jolt from one tree to the other side of the road.

 

There’s a figure there waving at him. In the middle of the road where it should be unsafe- would be if there were any cars here to make it so.

 

“Hey, tin can! Took you long enough!”

 

He’s moving before he realizes it. Taking in the features of the figure in the road and recognizing them before he even hears them speak.

 

_ Gavin. _

 

**Author's Note:**

> ALRIGHT.
> 
> So I saw a piece of art and I couldn't leave it be so here I am. I just needed some angst to get through the day, I guess. It also gave me the opportunity to re-purpose an ending for a series I'll never write so that was nice.
> 
> Here is that art, by the way. Feel with me.
> 
> https://twitter.com/Olivia313_/status/1091732347114999809


End file.
